Yasiel Puig’s up-and-down career took another turn when the Los Angeles Dodgers sent the outfielder to the minors a day after they couldn’t move him before the non-waiver trade deadline.
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Adam Katz said Monday he was told Puig didn’t show up to Dodger Stadium before the club departed on its road trip to Colorado.
After failing to finalize a trade with another club, the organization announced that it would option Puig to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday.
Apparently, manager Dave Roberts saw this potential problem and invited Puig to dinner during spring training, according to Andy McCullough of the LA Times.
Puig was told to not come to the ballpark Monday afternoon as the Dodgers prepared to fly to Denver for a three-game series that starts Tuesday.
“What we were looking for more than anything”, Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said, “were guys who can come in and help us in the division race”. Reddick can be slotted into the lineup in place of the 25-year-old Cuban, who is batting just. He was one of the NL’s best outfielders in 2014 when he posted a. 862 OPS, but he’s down to a. 706 OPS with seven home runs in 2016.
But, you know, c’mon: The Dodgers, a team in the thick of the postseason hunt, seem like they are about to keep Scott Van Slyke, Enrique Hernandez, Chris Taylor and Andrew Toles on their roster over Puig.
Yet, as dramatic as Monday’s news to send down Puig was, all might not be lost for him this season.
In 2013, when Puig arrived he put up big numbers as he hit 19 home runs, batted.
Reddick will wear #11, Hill will wear #44 and Chavez will wear #58 for the Dodgers. Puig, having put in more than three years of Major League Baseball service time, will have the right to opt into arbitration in the final two years of his contract – those arbitration-determined salaries that could fall anywhere.
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The Dodgers could still trade Puig after a short show-me stint at Oklahoma City, but that encounters some complications. He played in just 79 games in 2015 and has missed 24 of the Dodgers’ 105 games thus far this season headed into Monday night. Trades like these are rare, but the Dodgers were able to make one past year when they acquired Chase Utley from the Philadelphia Phillies.
